The Tang Dynasty, the folk began to specialize in the production of Hu cake bakers and stores selling Hu cake. It is said that one year in the Mid-Autumn Festival, Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty and Yang Guifei to enjoy the moon to eat Hu cake, Emperor Taizong smacked "Hu cake" is not elegant, Guifei raised his head to look at the moon, "moon cake" two words came out. From then on, "moon cake" instead of "Hu cake" name in folklore.
The Northern Song Royal Mid-Autumn Festival, like to eat a kind of food called "Palace Cake", "Palace Cake" is also known as "small cakes", in fact, is the moon cake. But the filling has been much more detailed than before. Dong Po has a poem: "small cakes like chewing the moon, there are crispy and syrup." Crisp, that the surface mixed with fat and eggs, syrup, that the filling added sugar or fruit, and now the moon cake has been very similar.
The Ming Dynasty Mid-Autumn Festival to eat moon cakes is not only very popular folk, and the production of moon cakes is also more and more exquisite. The ingenious baker, the Chang'e moon myth as a food art pattern printed on the moon cake, making the moon cake is not only delicious but also good-looking.
During the Qing Dynasty, mooncakes came in many varieties, and the production process rose to an unprecedented height. Qing Dynasty poet Yuan Jinglan has a "moon cake poem", wrote "into the kitchen light to take the frost, steam kettle gas flow liquid. Knead the fine surface dust, embellished with rouge traces. ......", the production process of moon cakes, a detailed description of the moon cake production process is exquisite.
To this day, the Mid-Autumn Mooncake and Dragon Boat Festival dumplings, Lantern Festival dumplings, has become an essential food for the holidays. Mooncakes are loved not only because they are delicious, but also because they symbolize reunion and auspiciousness; when eating mooncakes, the family can sit around one side, looking at the bright moon in the sky, praying for peace on earth.
Varieties of moon cakes
Old-fashioned moon cakes
China's moon cake varieties, according to the origin of the following: Soviet-style, Cantonese-style, Beijing-style, Ning-style, Chiuzhou-style, Dian-style, etc.; on the flavor, there are sweet, savory, salty-sweet, spicy flavor; from the heart of the fillings, there are five kernels, bean paste, icing sugar, sesame seeds, ham moon cakes, etc.; according to the skin points, there is a syrupy skin, mixed with sugar skin, crispy skin of the three major categories; on the shape, there is a glossy surface, and the skin, and the skin, and the skin, and the skin, and the skin, and the skin. In terms of modeling, there are glossy mooncakes, lace mooncakes and mooncakes of the Monkey King and the birthday boy. At present, the national mooncake can be divided into five categories: Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Su, Chao.
Flower colors are similar, but the flavor is very different: Beijing and Tianjin mooncakes to vegetarian word, oil and filling are vegetarian; while the wide mooncakes are light oil and sugar; Su-style is to take the rich flavor, oil and sugar are focused on, and preferred in the fluffy; tide mooncake body is flatter, the crust is white, to the filling of shortening, crispy in the mouth.
Yunnan's "Dian-style mooncakes", Ningbo's "Ning-style mooncakes", Shanghai's "Shanghai-style mooncakes", Xiamen's "Qinglan mooncakes", Fuzhou's "Qinglan mooncakes" and "Shanghai-style mooncakes" are also popular. "Five-kernel mooncake" in Fuzhou, "De Mao Kung" crystal mooncake in Xi'an, "Old Dingfeng" mooncake in Harbin, "Black hemp mooncake" in Yangzhou Black Hemp Mooncake" in Yangzhou, "Dried Vegetable Mooncake" in Shaoxing, "Taoxiangcun Mooncake" in Beijing, "Soft Grape Filled Mooncake" and "Soft Grape Filled Mooncake" in Jinan, and "Dried Vegetable Mooncake" in Xi'an. "moon cakes" and "crystal bean paste" moon cakes in Jinan and other famous varieties, flavor characteristics of a variety of different.
Beijing-style mooncakes, the way as a baked cake, crispy and delicious crust; Soviet-style mooncakes eat layers of layers and thin crust, soft and white, sweet and delicious, the looser the crust, the whiter and whiter the better; Cantonese-style mooncakes and the crust and Western-style pastry is similar to the filling of the famous; the traditional Taiwanese mooncakes, also known as moon cakes, sweet potato as the material, sweet but not greasy flavor, soft and tasty; halal mooncakes are unique to the Hui people of the belief in Islam, does not contain pig's milk, and the mooncake, the mooncakes are not made of pig's milk. The Halal mooncake is unique to Muslims who believe in Islam and does not contain pig ingredients, and is most famous for its Halal beef mooncake.
New mooncakes
Ice mooncakes: characterized by the crust without baking, frozen and eaten. Transparent milky white crust is the main, but also purple, green, red, yellow and other colors. The flavors vary, and the appearance is very beautiful and interesting.
Fruit and vegetable moon cakes: characterized by the filling is mainly fruit and vegetables, filling smooth and soft, different flavors, filling cantaloupe, pineapple, lychee, strawberries, melon, taro, umeboshi, orange, etc., and with fruit juice or fruit syrup, so it has a more refreshing and sweet flavor.
Seafood mooncake: It is a more expensive mooncake with abalone, shark's fin, seaweed and skate, etc. The flavor is slightly salty and fresh, and it is known for its sweetness and aroma.
Narrow mooncake: It is made by combining lily, mung bean and tea into the mooncake filling, which is the newest idea and has the effect of moisturizing and beautifying the skin.
Coconut Milk Mooncake: made of freshly squeezed coconut milk, evaporated milk and fruits and melons, with low sugar and oil content, it has a sweet taste and rich coconut flavor, which leaves a fragrance in the mouth and cheeks. It has the functions of purifying, stomach-healthy and beauty.
Tea mooncake: also known as the new tea ceremony mooncake, with new green tea as the main filling, the taste is light and slightly fragrant. There is a kind of tea mooncake that is mixed with oolong tea juice and lotus seed paste, which is more refreshing.
Health mooncakes: These are functional mooncakes that appeared only the year before, with ginseng mooncakes, calcium mooncakes, medicinal mooncakes and iodine-containing mooncakes.
Like-shaped moon cakes: used to be called piglet cakes, with hard filling, mostly for children's food; with vivid appearance, they are the new pets of children.
Mini mooncakes: the main shape is small and delicate, and the production method is exquisite.
Ice cream mooncake: filled with ice cream, the ice cream mooncake is the favorite of adults and children.
Mooncake purchase
Consumers in the purchase of mooncakes should look at the brand, try to choose a well-known brand and old products; two to look at the trademark, do not buy the production logo is not standardized, incomplete products; three to look at the date of production and shelf life.
In the specific identification of moon cakes, first of all, look at the appearance of the moon cake block type to be uniform in size, circumference and fullness. Canton style moon cake surface was light brown, standing wall for the creamy yellow, egg paste coated uniformly, and the pattern is labeled with the name of the factory and filling core. Beijing-style moon cakes without pattern, name. Secondly, smell, quality of fresh moon cakes, can emit a moon cake unique pungent aroma, due to different raw materials, skin filling aroma varies. If the use of poor-quality raw materials or storage of moon cakes for a long time, it will smell a strange odor or harla flavor.
If conditions allow, consumers can taste to identify the moon cake is good or bad. Cantonese moon cakes thin skin, large filling, pure flavor, taste soft and crisp; its filling core to lotus seed paste, coconut, egg yolk, fruit and a variety of meat fillings, sweet and salty moderation. Peking-style moon cake skin production fine and complex, moon cake skin has oil skin, shortcrust pastry skin, clarified pulp skin and Beijing wide skin four categories; filling core is divided into refining filling, frying filling, rubbing the filling of the three categories, the filling core contains more fruit, after cutting the peach kernel, melon kernel, hemp kernel, cinnamon, green and red silk and a variety of fruit materials. Peking-style moon cakes eat up fluffy mouth, soft and delicate, while the poor quality of the moon cakes not only tough skin filling no sense of fluffiness, there is often a bitter taste.